1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand tools, and particularly to a device for fixing fasteners such as screws in various solid objects.
2. Discussion of the Known Art
U.S. Pat. No. 2,266,302 (Dec. 16, 1941) discloses a power driven portable tool that contains a drill and a screwdriver, either of which is selected for use by a mechanism at the tool handle. A number of screws are loaded successively into a supply chute a lower end of which is disposed near the tip of the screwdriver when the screwdriver is retracted. In use, the drill is advanced forward and driven by a motor to form a hole in a workpiece. Once the hole is formed, the drill is retracted and the screwdriver is advanced to engage the head of a screw supplied from the lower end of the chute. The screwdriver is then operated to insert the screw in the hole formed in the workpiece.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,368 (Nov. 14, 2006) discloses a screwdriver with a rotatable storage holder having a number of receptacles having axes parallel to the axis of the holder. The receptacles contain individual tool bits. In use, the holder is rotated until a receptacle containing a desired tool bit is aligned with a forward end of a plunger. The plunger is advanced to displace the tool bit out of the storage holder and through a tube attached to the housing, to a presentation position for use at a forward end of tube. The bit is then replaced in its receptacle in the holder by retracting the plunger, according to the patent.
See also, U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,593 (Apr. 18, 2006) and U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2006/0053986 (Mar. 16, 2006) which disclose screwdrivers with bit storage cylinders, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,169 (Jun. 26, 1990) which discloses a fastener device in which a number of screws are retained in chambers of a cylindrical insert.
My U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,015 (Mar. 23, 1993) and No. 5,474,558 (Dec. 12, 1995) disclose tool systems for inserting pedicle screws in spinal vertebrae of a patient during a surgical procedure. A tool handle is constructed and arranged to accept one of several detachable probes including a first probe for forming a hole in bone tissue, a second probe for threading the formed hole, and a third probe for driving a screw into the threaded hole.
Notwithstanding the known state of the art, there remains a need for a tool that enables a user to form an opening or hole in a work object, to thread the hole if necessary, and to insert and fix a fastener in the hole, all without the need to withdraw the device from the object in order to attach different work probes or bits. In particular, there is a need for a tool device that allows a surgeon to form a hole in bone tissue, to thread the hole and to insert a screw or other fastener, all with the use of only one hand and without needing to withdraw the device from the surgical site until the screw has been properly implanted.